Bookshapers

Anna Faherty and Judith Watts
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Exploring curious stories about the people and technology behind what we read - with Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. For book nerds, readers and anyone interested in publishing or book history.

Episodes

  1. 02/20/2025

    Modern Magic

    In which Anna and Judith travel back to a world of secrets in Victorian London.  Expect multiplatform publishing, debates about access to knowledge, a found-poem performance and a marvellous trick. When Angelo Lewis writes a book about his boyhood love, some readers are so outraged they wish him dead...  CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH Find more information and images at the Bookshapers website. Follow Bookshapers on Instagram. USEFUL LINKS Explore a copy of 'Modern Magic' at the Internet Archive. CREDITS Recorded by Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. Edited and produced by Anna Faherty. Thanks also to Marco Tarantino of University of the Arts London for support with recording. Incidental music: The Sorcerer's Apprentice, composed by Paul Dukas in 1897 and performed by the New York Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra in 1929. Available at the Internet Archive. Sound effects: The sound of the typewriter from tams_kp on freeounds.org Theme music: Folk guitar music track from Dvideoguy on freesound.org | Typewriter sound effect from tams_kp on freeounds.org | Print shop sound effect from ecfike on freesound.org

  2. 09/15/2023

    Botanica Blackwellia

    In which Anna and Judith travel back to the degenerate world of Eighteenth-century London. Expect user-focused content and design, a performance in rhyming verse and a dash of gin. When Elizabeth Blackwell's husband ends up in a debtor's prison, she thinks writing and illustrating her own book will save the day, but it's a mammoth task. CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH Find more information and images at the Bookshapers website. Follow Bookshapers on Instagram. Follow Bookshapers on Twitter. USEFUL LINKS See Elizabeth's letter of introduction to Hans Sloane at the British Library. 'A Curious Herbal as Material Witness' at the Linnean Society. 'Will the Real Elizabeth Blackwell Please Stand Up?' at NYBG. CREDITS Recorded by Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. Edited and produced by Anna Faherty. Incidental music: Concerti Grosso, Opus 3 No 2 in B-flat major composed by George Frideric Handel in 1734 and performed by The London Baroque Orchestra. Available at Wikimedia Commons. Sound effects: The sound of the typewriter from tams_kp on freeounds.org Theme music: Folk guitar music track from Dvideoguy on freesound.org | Typewriter sound effect from tams_kp on freeounds.org | Print shop sound effect from ecfike on freesound.org

  3. 09/27/2022

    Pianotype

    In which Anna and Judith uncover a publishing innovation that promised to spark a revolution - but didn't. Expect the spectre of automation, invisible women, union disputes, rock-star pianists and a new take on the sound of typesetting. The Anatomy of Sleep was the first book ever typeset by machine. By the time of the second edition, it was set by hand. Today, the machine that made it is virtually unknown. So what happened? CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH Find more information and images at...

  4. 05/20/2022

    The Sign of the Penguins

    In which Anna and Judith travel to Antarctica to embark on the greatest possible adventure: publishing a book! Expect cold, dark and dismal weather, the printing press from hell and the stench of seal blubber - all wrapped up in tasty petit-pois endpapers. Aurora Australis was the first book ever written, printed and bound in Antarctica. This rare collection of fact, fiction and poetry was self-published in 1908, at Shackleton's hut in Cape Royds. CONNECT WITH ANNA & JUDITH Find more in...

  5. Season 1, Episode 1 Trailer

    Trailer 01: The pianotype

    We discover an elegant Victorian machine, which promised to revolutionise typography and literature. But why has no-one heard of it?    FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS TOPIC      You can view the 1842 edition of 'The Anatomy of Sleep' by Dr Edward Binns online at the Internet Archive.  You can see pictures of the Pianotype machine in Anna's blog post for Wellcome Collection (now archived by Archive-it).  EPISODE CREDITS: Background music: La Campanella. Composed by Franz Liszt in 1851, performed by Romuald Greiss on an 1850 piano. Available at Wikipedia.  /  Typewriter sound effect: tams_kp on freesound.org.  THEME CREDITS: Guitar music: Dvideoguy on freesound.org. | Typewriter sound effect: tams_kp on freesound.org. | Printing sound effect: ecfike on freesound.org.

Trailer

About

Exploring curious stories about the people and technology behind what we read - with Anna Faherty and Judith Watts. For book nerds, readers and anyone interested in publishing or book history.

Information

  • Creator
    Anna Faherty and Judith Watts
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    5
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Anna Faherty & Judith Watts
  • Show Website
    Bookshapers